The 2018/19 Race 4 Eight 8 hosted its eighth event of the nine-event R48 8 season at the 2019 NYAC R48LTE, the R48 8’s six consecutive year in the Big Apple. The 2019 R48 NYAC featured the 56th Race 4 Eight event in the eight-year history of the tour since the first Race 4 Eight stop in 2011 at the Plummer Bash in Coeur d’Alene, ID.

The 2019 NYAC R48LTE featured the return of the indomitable Paul Brady, who was making his first R48 start in two years. Brady was sensational in the Big Apple, decimating a strong field en route to his fifth title at the NYAC and 15th R48 career title.

2018/19 Race 4 Eight 8 Fun Facts

Through eight events on the 2018/19 Race 4 Eight season, a number of interesting stats are starting to emerge. Check out the 2018/19 R48 8 Fun Facts below.

The Invited 8 are a combined 36-4 against the qualifiers in the round of 16 through three events on the R48 8 Men’s Pro. Emmett Peixoto is the only member of the Elite 8 to have lost in the round of 16 twice this season (Portland, San Francisco)

Aisling Reilly had advanced to the finals of her previous seven WR48 starts (2013-2016, 1-6 record in finals), with her six losses coming to Catriona Casey. Reilly’s finals streak ended after a nearly three-year hiatus from the WR48, as Reilly lost to Ni Churraoin in the San Francisco ’19 semifinals

The only club with ranked players on the R48 Men’s Pro, WR48, and SR48 is the Tucson Racquet Club

San Francisco’s Olympic Club’s handball team went 0-5 in the qualifier and 0-1 in the main draw in the R48 8 San Francisco ’19, the worst record for any home club in the history of the Race 4 Eight

There have been five first-time qualifiers on the 2018/2019 R48 Men’s Pro (Fernandez, McGrath, Esser, Canales, Sr., Kerr). The five first-time qualifiers are a combined 0-5 in the R48 main draw, and counting playoffs, the five are a combined 2-10

David Fink is the only player on the 2018/19 R48 Men’s Pro to have lost in the round of 16, round of 8, semifinals, and finals

Daniel Cordova (Tucson ’19) became the first R48 8 champion to not drop a game en route to a title. The other three R48 8 pro champions have been pushed to at least one tiebreaker in the event he won this season (Lucho: 3 tiebreakers in Atlanta, 1 tiebreaker in New Orleans, Lenning: 1 tiebreaker in Tucson, Danos: 1 tiebreaker in Portland, Carroll: 1 tiebreaker in Montana, Lucho: 1 tiebreaker in New Orleans)

The Elite 8 were 44-12 against the qualifiers in the round of 16 in seven 2016/17 R48 6 events (79%). The Elite 8 were 44-10 (81%) through seven events of the 2017/18 R48 7. The Elite 8 are 36-4 against the qualifiers thus far during the 2018/19 R48 8 season (90%)

The first eight events of the R48 8 season have produced five different champions: L. Cordova (2), Lenning (1), D. Cordova (2), Carroll (2), Brady (1)

Killian Carroll (10) has held the longest winning streaks on the 2018/19 R48 8 tour: Carroll at the 2019 Montana Red Death, Carroll’s streak started with a win in Montana, followed by another win in San Francisco before the Carroll streak ended in the semifinals of the 2019 NYAC R48LTE (McCarthy)

In the first eight 2018/19 R48 8 stops, only the top six in the R48 rankings + Paul Brady and Robbie McCarthy have advanced to a R48 8 semifinal

There have been two first-time R48 champions on the R48 8 season (Lucho, Danos)

Catriona Casey won her 17th WR48 title in 19 WR48 events in Tucson ’18 and now holds the maximum number of WR48 ranking points (20)

The first two R48 8 events produced four different finalists: Atlanta: L. Cordova/D. Cordova, Tucson: Lenning/Carroll. The last time there were four different finalists in back to back events was New Orleans’16 (Brady/Carroll) and Houston ’16 (Lenning/Ortiz)

With his win in the SR48 New Orleans ‘19, David Fink has now won four of his five career SR48 starts. Fink has also finished third on the R48 Men’s pro bracket in all four of his SR48 wins

Shorty Ruiz qualified for a record 13th straight R48 event at the R48 8 San Francisco ’19. Ruiz has qualified by the minimum margin three times in his 13-event streak, 25-23 twice and 15-13 in the tiebreaker once (McCrystal Tucson ’17, Streibig Vegas ’18, Beall 15-13 tiebreaker Portland ‘18), and by the maximum margin, 25-0, once (Svennungsen Salt Lake City ’18)

Former R48 #1 Mando Ortiz has dropped from #3 at the start of the season to #9, partly due to skipping two events and largely due to losing two tiebreakers by the minimum number of points (2) and the first game against Sean Lenning in Tucson ’18 by two points

Mexico has four wins on the R48 8 (Flying Cordovas),S. has 1 win (Lenning), and Ireland has three wins (Carroll, Brady).

Since making three consecutive R48 finals in 2016/17, David Fink lost five consecutive semifinal matches before returning to the final for the first time in 23 months at the 2019 Tucson R48LTE Hall of Fame

Since welcoming his baby daughter Emilia to his family, Emmett Peixoto has finished between 13th and third in his 10 starts as a father

After advancing to the finals of Atlanta ’17, the semifinals of Tucson ’17, and the finals of Montana ’18, Mando Ortiz has not finished better than fifth in the last 10 Race 4 Eight events

With his victory at the Tucson Memorial ’18, Sean Lenning tied Killian Carroll for the R48 Men’s Pro #1 ranking, marking the first time since Salt Lake City ’17 that Carroll has not held the sole #1 ranking. Carroll reclaimed the #1 R48 ranking after Portland ‘18

Danos Cordova has appeared in four of the last 10 R48 finals (two titles: Portland ’18, Tucson Hall of Fame ‘19)

7 of the 8 players in the ATP Tennis top 8 are 30+; 4 players in the R48 Elite 8 are 30+. Roger Federer (37) is the oldest player in the ATP top 100, Marcos Chavez (44) is the oldest player on the R48 Elite 8

The average age of the R48 Elite 8 is 32.5; the average age of the ATP Tennis top 8 is 29.75. 25% of the current R48 8 are 41+ years old (Fink, Chavez)

The average age of the WR48 “Fab” 4 is 29.5, the average age of the WTA Tennis top 4 is 27.25

The average age of the “Fab 4” on the 40+ SR48 tour is 43.25; youngest: Fink (41), oldest: Hamel (46)

Vic Perez won the fifth place playoffs in consecutive events (Salt Lake City ’18, Atlanta ’18), boosting PVic’s ranking to a then career-high #7. Perez added another 5th place finish in Portland ’18 and a finals appearance in New Orleans, pushing PVic to a career-best #5 R48 ranking (currently #6)

Luis Cordova won three tiebreakers in four matches (Langmack, Fink, D. Cordova) en route to winning his first R48 title in Atlanta ’18 and came within four points of his second consecutive final at the 2018 Tucson Memorial, losing his first tiebreaker of the season to Sean Lenning, 15-11 in the Tucson ’18 semifinals

Ciana Ni Churraoin advanced to her second WR48 final (NYAC ’15) in her first WR48 start in 18 months following knee surgery at the Tucson Memorial ’18. CNC added her third finals appearance in four starts at the WR48 San Francisco ’19. *CNC lost all three finals to WR48 #1 Catriona Casey

David Fink and Marcos Chavez have played in the last five SR48 finals, with Fink winning four and Chavez winning one

Tyler Hamel finished third in his first SR48 start in more than two years at the 2018 Tucson Memorial

George Garcia Jr. reached a career-high #3 SR48 ranking after finishing third at the 2018 Tucson Memorial

Jennifer Hinman (OR) and Leslie Amminson (CAN) earned WR48 rankings for the first time by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, at the 2018 Tucson Memorial

Ashley Moler finished fourth at the 2018 Tucson Memorial, boosting her WR48 ranking to a career-high #3. Moler now sits at #6 on the WR48

At 42 years old, Tracy Davis is the oldest player to be ranked in the top three (#3) on the R48 or WR48 tour

Leo Canales, Sr. (MEX) finished fourth in his first SR48 start since 2014, defeating George Garcia (#3) in the quarterfinals to earn a spot in the SR48 top 8 (#7)

Leo Canales Sr. is the only player to have appeared on ESPN3 and not won one point (15-0, 15-0 SR48 semifinal loss at the 2018 Tucson Memorial)

Of the 11 players currently ranked on the WR48, three are moms (Davis, Peixoto de Melo, Hinman). Davis is the highest ranked mom on the WR48 (#2)

Of the 31 ranked players on the R48, seven are dads. Lucho Cordova is the highest ranked dad (#3)

Inside the Numbers

Most points won in a tournament this season: Danos Cordova: Portland (156)

Killian Carroll has held the longest winning streak thus far this season on the R48 Men’s Pro: 10 consecutive match wins from Montana ’19 through NYAC ‘19

The only undefeated players on the 2018/19 Race 4 Eight tour are Paul Brady (R48, 4-0, one title), Catriona Casey (WR48, 6-0, two titles), and David Fink (SR48, 6-0, two titles)

Of the 2018/19 Race 4 Eight Elite, Catriona Casey,Ciana Ni Churraoin, Sean Lenning, Lucho Cordova, David Fink, Marcos Chavez, and Vic Perez have played overtime games this season

The three most winning players in Race 4 Eight history are Irish: Casey (17), Brady (15), Carroll (12)

Each member of the 2018/19 R48 Men’s Pro has scored between two and six points in single-game losses this season

Danos has won the most combined points on the 2018/19 season (885)

Amongst the R48 Men’s Pro, Killian Carroll has the highest percent of points won thus far on the 2018/19 season (64%)

David Fink has lost the most points thus far on the 2018/19 season (617)

Amongst the R48 Men’s Pro, Emmett Peixoto has the lowest percentage of points won thus far on the 2018/19 season (49%)

R48 Trends and Facts: 2011-Present

Through 56 events on the Race 4 Eight tour from 2011-2019, the Race 4 Eight has produced sensational tournaments, memorable matches, dominant champions and inspiring stories, all broadcast live on WPH Patreon, race4eight.com or the WatchESPN App. Read below for fun facts and trends from the first eight+ years on the most exciting indoor pro handball tour in the sport.

In 56 Men’s Race 4 Eight Pro events, there have been 10 different champions and 16 different finalists. Of the 16 different finalists, 10 have been from the U.S., five from Ireland, and one from Mexico

The R48 Men’s Pro season 1 featured six different finalists in eight events from the U.S. and Ireland (U.S.: Moreno, Alvarado, Lenning, Al. Garner), Ireland: McCarthy, Shanks). The R48 2 season featured one new finalist (Brady), the R48 3 season featured three new finalists (Ortiz, Peixoto, Nash), The R48 4 featured one new finalist (Nett), the R48 5 featured one new finalist (Carroll), and the R48 6 featured two new finalists (Fink, L. Cordova). There was one new finalist on the R48 7 (D. Cordova). Through eight events on the R48 8, there has been one new finalist (Perez) and two new champions: Luis Cordova, Daniel Cordova

Of the 31 players currently ranked on the Men’s Pro R48 tour, four countries are represented

United States: 20

Ireland: 5

Mexico: 5

Canada: 1

Of the 20 U.S. R48 pros currently ranked, eight states are represented

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